A Working Mom's Dilemma

I hardly see my boy from Mondays to Fridays. Working full-time away from home means leaving the house at 630am and coming back around 730pm (and that depends on the traffic). I used to be Riley's primary caregiver as I quit work and stayed with him for the first year of his life. I learned a lot during that period and the main lesson is that being a stay at home mom (SAHM) is extremely difficult! Akala ko noon chill lang siya. My goodness, kulang ang 24 hours sa isang araw sa dami ng kelangan gawin! To save my sanity, I went back to work.

He had separation anxiety when I started working. Ang hirap umalis every morning. He will cling to me as soon as he feels me getting up from the bed until I leave the house. Nakatayo pa yan sa may door ng banyo, crying for me to pick him up. I tried to explain to him that I will be back later but I guess he did not understand that yet. So he started to send me off to work. He will walk me up to the end of our street and I will hug him goodbye. That was our morning ritual since I started working earlier this year. Kahit umuulan ipipilit niya pero of course I will say next time na lang to him. This past week, I noticed that he will calmly kiss me goodbye and continue playing with his toys. Ganun?! I asked him if he wants to hatid his mama, he told me he was busy. Talagang ganun?! Nooooo! Don't tell me my little boy is not clingy anymore! I'll be marginally pacified if he was clingy even just a little... Sigh...

Here he is busy coloring Mickey Mouse. At the moment, he will say red for every color he sees. 

And he still does not want to send off his mama even when she was begging him to.

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Playhouse

While I was still pregnant, I told myself I would not bring my son to the mall's playhouse because it looks messy and unsafe. Two years (and a super kulit toddler) later, here I am taking Riley to the playhouse at least every other week. Riley used to be shy around new people, wants me to be at arms reach all the time and doesn't know how to share. After taking him to the playhouse twice, he has changed for the better. He still wants me to be around him. But as long as he sees me, he will play around the area. We are still working on taking turns and sharing the common toys. He still shouts for me when he wants something and the other kid has taken it. I will tell him to either wait for it or play with another toy in the meantime. Playhouses are generally messy. What do you expect with almost 20 kids running around throwing stuff around? Lumalabas lang pagka neat freak ko and I quietly arrange and put back some items when no one is looking! 

We've been to Dave's Playhouse, Fun Ranch, Austin Land and two other small playhouses in SM Southmall and Festival Mall (can't remember the name). I like Dave's because of the variety of toys. They have a market area with plastic produce, meats, and vegetables that you can place inside a shopping trolley or basket; a kitchen with wooden ovens; dress-up closet with lots of costumes for girls nga lang, I haven't seen any clothes for boys; a hospital with bed; and (Riley's fave) lots of ride-on cars to choose from.

I took him to Fun Ranch and he enjoyed walking around the padded area. Tambay mode siya sa ball pit. But I find that he is too young for a playground like that. Di sulit for his age and ang mahal ng entrance fee para sa bantay ng bata. Same goes for Austin Land. One lang yung ride-on car, sira pa yung gulong (see photo above).

The playhouse in Festival Mall is near the computer area. It's like a tipid version of Dave's Funhouse. Cheap naman din kasi the entrance fee (around P100/hour). I like it here if not for the people looking after the place. Naka upo lang at nakain ng cheetos habang nag aagawan na yung dalawang bata sa apron. Luckily, walang interest sa apron si Riley!

The last one located at SM Southmall's basement (near the salons) only has toy blocks, some trucks, a ball pit and slide. The entrance fee is also P100 but here you can tell na mura kasi the toys are the cheap plastic that you can buy in Divi. Unless sinusubo ng kids yung toys, I feel this place is okay na. Dave's kasi is super crowded during weekends and this place is comparatively vacant. Free entrance pa ang companion ng kid. And necessity na may bantay kasi some kids are brusko. 

Kaya every weekend, as soon as he wakes up, he will tell me that we are going to SM to play. Siya pa mag pack ng bag niya para alis na daw kami!

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Bagyong Mario

I woke up yesterday morning to heavy rainfall. Great. There's nothing I hate more than going to work while it's raining. The traffic, muddy puddles, and getting your feet wet. I've been meaning to buy boots but always end up buying something for Riley instead. So, I was awake by 530am and, as usual, Riley wakes up too since he sleeps beside me. He always wakes up when I do. And everytime he will grab my arm, put it around him and say, "Love you, mama." Sweet noh? And of course I'll be late because of the extended cuddling time. Hey, I'm enjoying this while it lasts! 

When I stood up to prepare myself for work, he looked out the window and said "Raining Mama. Chicken wet. Wawa chicken wet." He was referring to the neighbour's pet rooster which is caged in their backyard. I switched on the tv to see if it is flooded in the areas I'll be passing by. And flooded nga. Yehey! Self-declared holiday! I went back to bed and Riley took out his train books and told me he wanted to read. "Mama, read train. Oooo train, choo-choo! Train festival still broken. Train track broken. Go SM, Mama." I have such a talkative toddler. He sometimes talks while sleeping. Is that normal? Anyway, he can carry a conversation about the broken train in Festival Mall for like half an hour then switch topics to wanting to go to SM and buy Yakult. Kulit. Kahit may sakit madaldal padin. If not for the lost weight, you will not know he's sick. Plus, he's a picky eater so it's twice as hard to make him eat anything. I've resorted to buying all his favourite food just so he will eat something. Cocoa crunch, wafer, raisins, yoghurt drink, and yakult. He normally loves pansit and spaghetti but now that he is sick he doesn't want to eat it. 

Papa still had to work yesterday and Riley wanted to hatid Papa to work. We just bought chicharon from the nearby store and waved Papa goodbye. Riley said, "Papa work. Busy." If he is calling out to someone and that person will not respond, he will tell me that that person is busy. In the mall when he sees a saleslady and calls her Ate and Ate does not respond, he will look at me and say, "Mama, ate busy." I taught him that so he will not interrupt people when they are talking. He picked it up straight away! Clever boy. He will even call out to Manang while she is cooking. And then if Manang does not reply, he will say, "Manang busy cooking." Cute.

He keeps standing on the sofa and looking out the window to watch the rain. He even wanted to go out to touch it. I told him that he is still sick so if he gets wet from the rain he has to go see his doctor again. He said, "Ayaw." Then sat down and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I miss normal everyday moments like these. When I was a SAHM, I said I missed working in an office. Now that I am working in an office, I miss staying at home with Riley. Ang gulo lang. You can't have everything talaga. Kaya pag may opportunity to just stay at home, I just stay home with this hyperactive kulit toddler.

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Cough, cold, and tonsilitis

Today is Riley's third time to visit the doctor. Three times in a month! No matter how diligently he takes Vitamin C and wash his hands, he still gets sick frequently. *sigh* We are waiting for him to pee again  into this plastic collector so we can have a urinalysis done. The first batch collected was contaminated by his poop. Trust a toddler to manage to get poop inside the plastic...while it is still wrapped in his boy parts. Luckily, Papa is here to do the dirty stuff. 

Mama loves you dearly Riley... 

But poop is really one of those things this mama can't get used to touching.

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Wasn't it just yesterday that...

...I met you for the very first time

...you melted my heart with your gummy smiles

...you said your first word (Mama)

...you tried walking and came tumbling down.


You are now a 21-month-old toddler who loves playing with cars and trains, watching Mickey Mouse, jumping around the room and roaring like a dragon!


Please... please don't grow up too fast.

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